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Um, the Bible reading today is taken from Luke, chapter two, verse 25 to 35, found on page 1033. I will read the first part and pause after chapter 28. And I ask you to join in with me for the nun Demitis. Thank you.

Luke. Luke 225. Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Spirit was upon him.

And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came in the spirit into the temple.

And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him according to the custom of the law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, please join in, Lord. Now let us, thou, thy servant, depart in peace according to thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people to be a light to lighten the gentiles and to be the glory of thy people, Israel. And his father and his mother marvelled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to mary his mother, behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed, and a sword will pierce through your own soul also, so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Hillary, thank you very much. Well done, everybody. Nimble there with the service sheets and your bibles. It's lovely to be together this morning. If you're visiting us today, can I add my welcome to Hughes.

My name is Steve, Steve knuckles on the vicar here. It's a great joy to welcome you here and can I say a huge thank you to those yesterday who made 720 Chris Dingles ready for this afternoon? They're behind us there in front of you, there in the side chapel. You could walk into the tiger and just inhale the vitamin C that was being given off by those oranges. So lots of Christingle services.

Four Christingel services this afternoon, particularly for the children. A few minutes together this afternoon. This morning, not particularly aimed at the children, but I hope everyone will be able to listen. But next Sunday, the 31st, if we can think that far ahead. Although we won't be having children's groups, our talk will be an all age talk, so it will be, will be appropriate for everybody.

There we go. Somebody may need to turn off their mobile phone. Maybe we should all just cheque that we've got our phones on silent just for the next few minutes, shall I pray? And then we'll look at this wonderful passage together. Father, thank you for this season of the year and for all that we celebrate.

Thank you for the coming into the world of your son, our saviour. And we thank you for this passage of scripture before us today. We pray that your Holy Spirit himself would be our guide and our teacher, and he would write these words on our hearts and lives. For Jesus' sake. Amen.

Everything changes with this baby. Well, the race for the Christmas number one is over. I'm sure you were as excited to follow it as I was. The winner. Val was.

I'm looking huge, I'm just assuming. Anybody know who won the Christmas number one last Christmas by. When was it written? 39 years ago. 39.

Yeah. There we go. The roast was open this year, I'm told, because for the last four years, lad baby who had won, decided not to enter this year. Previous singles that won by Lad Baby were we built this city on sausage rolls. 2018.

I love sausage rolls. 2019. Don't stop me eating sausage rolls. 2020. Sausage rolls for everyone, 2021.

And food aid last year, which I think they lost their inspiration a little bit, but there we are. I won't ask you how many times Cliff Richard won or what those solos were, but something to think about for the next few minutes. Well, we've been in a series over the last few weeks of Christmas songs. The first Christmas carols we've called, and this morning it is number four. We've heard the song of Mary, the mother of Jesus, the song of Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, Jesus' cousin.

We've heard the song of the angels at our carol services and this morning it is the song of Simeon and it's known and loved by millions of christians around the world. It's sometimes called the nunk demetis, which is the latin of those first words. Now dismiss. Now dismiss your servant in peace. And it's said or sung every night in evening prayer, and we said it together this morning.

But really, we're a little bit ahead of ourselves, because when Simeon sings this Christmas carol, Jesus is already about six weeks old. Simeon was the night watchman. He stands, if you like, between the Old Testament and the New Testament. And the Bible doesn't tell us much about Simeon. We don't know how old he was, we don't know where he lived.

We don't know what a job he did. We don't know who his family were. All we are told in verse 25 is that he was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Spirit was on him.

And it had been revealed to him that he wouldn't die until he had seen the Lord's Christ, the Lord's Messiah. It's hard to wait, isn't it, children? Don't you find that it's hard to wait? Especially as we get closer to Christmas? The wait seems to get longer and longer, not shorter.

But here was Simeon and he'd been waiting for the consolation of Israel, waiting for God's comfort to come, waiting for the Messiah, for the promised one, promised for hundreds of years, waiting for him to come. And he had been told that he wouldn't die until he had seen the Messiah coming down through history. It is as if God had been building a highway, building a highway of salvation down through history for the coming of the Messiah. He'd chosen a people, he'd sent them into Egypt for 400 years and then rescued them. He'd brought them through the wilderness into the promised land.

He'd spoken to them, he'd given them his law, he'd made promises to them, he'd raised up rulers, he'd protected them from their enemies, stopped them being destroyed, he disciplined them. Sometimes he organised the rise and the fall of the empires and the nations and all of this. God did all of this just to prepare for the coming of this little baby who Simeon is going to take in his arms. God's messiah. Christ governs history.

God was building a highway of salvation down through history, all of it just to prepare the way for this little baby. And you know, he's building a highway of salvation today. He's building a highway of salvation today. And we won't hear about it on the news, we won't hear about it in Ukraine, we won't hear about it in the Middle east. But he is doing that.

And stories as they come out, we hear of people coming to know the Lord Jesus Christ, Muslims and Jews becoming followers of Jesus. God is building a highway of salvation. He always has. I wonder, is he building a highway of salvation into your life? He wants to.

Christ governs all of history. I love the story. I don't know if it's true, but I hope it is. I love the story of one of the roman emperors. He was called Julian.

Julian the apostate was his nickname in the Roman Empire, had officially become christian under Constantine. But after Constantine died, his successor was this man, Julian. Julian the apostate. And he tried to turn the clock back to the old pagan ways and he started persecuting the christians again. And he reopened the pagan temples and he introduced the pagan festivals and the pagan priests and all that.

And one day, one of his pagan priests is supposed to have said to a christian leader, what is your carpenter doing now? Talking about Jesus, what is your carpenter doing now? And the answer came back, he's making a coffin for your emperor. I like that. I like that.

Because he rules history, he governs the history of the world. This child that Simeon is holding in his arms holds all of history in his tiny hands. That's what we believe. He not only governs the history of the nations and history of the empires, but he governs the history of our lives. Isn't that a wonderful thing?

Isn't that a comfort to know that he holds our story, our lives, in his hands? I wonder if you know that for yourself. So here's Simeon and all his life, well, we don't know how long he'd been waiting. Had it been days, weeks, months, decades maybe, but he had been waiting for Jesus and he'd been told he wouldn't die until he saw Jesus. And at the very moment when Mary and Joseph happened to be bringing their child into the temple to do for him what the law required, the Holy Spirit said to Simeon, now's the time.

So Simeon goes into the temple and happens to meet Mary and Joseph and happens to see Jesus. Because God isn't just governing all of history, he's governing our lives as well, the steps that we take. I wonder if you've experienced that in your own life, God's perfect timing. Sometimes it can feel at the time just like a chance encounter, somebody you meet or a conversation you have, and then as you look back on it years later, you see, wow, what a massive door swung on that tiny hinge. There are a couple of people in our church, family over this last year, who just happened to walk into church, just happened to go out for a walk one Sunday and found themselves coming into church.

And that was the beginning for them of coming to know the Lord Jesus. I wonder if you can look at something in your own life like that. The Bible tells us that God determines the times set for us and the exact places where we should live, so that we might reach out for him and perhaps find him. He organises when and where every single one of us lives so that we can find him. He governs our steps.

This little baby splits history BC and ad. He sets up kings and presidents and brings empires to their knees. This little baby writes the scripts of our lives and directs the story and all of it so that he might build a salvation highway to you and me. Everything changes with this baby. He governs history.

But he not only governs history, he rescues humanity. I came across a book recently. Hundred things to do before you die. Among them were see the northern lights. Anyone seen the northern lights?

Oh, David has. Yeah. Andrew? Yeah, very good. I'd love to see the northern lights.

Ride in a hot air balloon. Any takers? David? You've had a great. Any others?

Sally? Hot air balloon. Very good. What else do we have? Swimmer.

Dolphins. Anna? Shower under a waterfall. More hands. My goodness me.

Amy. Over there. Dyer. Gosh. Well, that was one I really wouldn't want to do.

Well, I won't go through the hundred. I won't go through the whole hundred. But Simeon, I suspect Simeon would say, really, there's only one thing. There's really only one thing to do before. And the other 99, don't worry about them.

But the one thing Simeon would say that we all have to do is to eat, is to meet with Christ. Meet with Christ. That's the one thing to do before you die, he would say. So he says in verse 29, Lord, now let your servant depart in peace according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation. Simeon's like, that's it.

Life will never get any better than this. That's all. I can die happy now. He would say, I can go in peace. Let me go in peace because I've seen your salvation.

I've stared into the eyes of my saviour, Jesus.

As he held Jesus in his arms, he knew that he needed a saviour and he knew that he was looking at his saviour.

I don't know if you've seen the news recently. This last week, the debate about how we die has been opened up again. Assisted dying. And there've been some very moving interviews with people who are campaigning for assisted dying. A change in the law and our hearts do go out to them.

And in all these discussions that are going to be had over the next few weeks and months, we mustn't forget that the hospice movement that provides care, wonderful care for those at the end of their lives, was set up by christian believers like Dame Cicely Saunders and others. It was their christian faith, the love of Christ, through them, that drove them to set up the hospice movement. But to depart in real peace. The only peace that really, really matters is the peace with God. We need our sins forgiven in this life so that we can be with God after we die.

And Simeon says, I'm ready. I can depart in peace. I wonder, can you say that as well? Simeon knew that he was holding in his arms the one who could forgive his sins, and not only his, he said, but the saviour of the whole world. So there he is, he said, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people, Israel.

Even then, standing in the temple in Jerusalem, although we'd probably never heard of these countries, Simeon is thinking, Brazilians, Koreans, Chinese, Israelis, Russians, Palestinians, this little baby is the saviour of the whole world. He governs history, he rescues humanity. And we prayed for those in politics this morning. And it is absolutely right that we have. Bible tells us to.

And we should get involved in politics, of course we should. But we know actually that our politicians who do their best, all they can do, really, is to limit the damage. They can't actually solve all the problems. They don't pretend they can, only this baby can. Only he is the saviour of the world.

Whatever the problems, he can deliver the answer, I expect. A lot of people missed it that day, though, in all the busyness. Crowds hurrying through the temple courts, people buying and selling, sacrifices being offered. But there is Simeon waiting.

It's possible for us to miss it today, of course, as well, in all the busyness of Christmas and you see on the Christmas cards a little baby that looks a little bit like Winston Churchill and so on. You think, oh, that's just Jesus. And is he really big enough to solve all the problems of the world? Oh, I don't know. We'll pack him away for another year.

No, but he is. Even as Christians, it's possible for us to underestimate him. All the problems of your life and my life, things we hide from ourselves and from one another, all the problems of this world. He's big enough. He is the saviour of the world.

Climate change? Yes. War? Yes. Poverty, injustice?

Yes. Family breakdowns, sadnesses, bereavements? Yes. Yes. All these things he will solve when he comes again.

Bible says he will come a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him, to apply his cleansing power and his blood to the whole of creation, to make it new again. He governs history. He rescues humanity. Finally, he determines destiny. He governs history.

He rescues humanity. He determines destiny.

So Joseph and Mary, they marvel at what Simeon says, verse 34. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, this child is appointed for the fall and the rising of many in Israel. And for a sign that is opposed that a sword will pierce your own soul too, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed.

Simeon's words must have been like a knife in Mary's heart. This baby that she loved so much would not be loved by everyone. Sometimes a child's choices bring great pain to their parents, often because they're bad choices. But Jesus' choices will be right choices, good choices, every step of the way, and they will be hard for Mary. A sword will pierce your own soul too, Simeon warns her.

And it begins in the very next chapter of Luke's gospel, when Jesus is twelve years old. Do you remember? And he goes to the temple and he leaves Mary and Joseph and he says, didn't you know I had to be about my father's business? And maybe Mary then remembers, and the sword begins to pierce her soul. And the choices that Jesus will make throughout his life, which will take him eventually to the cross, and she'll stand there and see him while the sword is piercing her soul.

As he makes choices, because he is our saviour, he will divide people. He won't be popular universally. He'll divide people just as he does today. His ministry would reveal the state of people's hearts. Some people will accept him and be saved.

Other people will oppose him and be lost. This child, Simeon says, is set for the falling and rising of many in Israel. Rising, the word is used of the resurrection, the falling. That word is used of the house that was built on the sand that collapsed. So Judas will betray and be lost, but Peter will repent and be saved.

The soldiers at the cross will crucify him, but the centurion will confess him and be saved. And next to the Lord as he dies, one thief will mock him, the other thief will pray. The same sun that melts the snow hardens the ground. There's a fork in the road in our lives when we come to Jesus. Which way are we going to go?

There's no need, Simeon says, to wait for the final judgement, to know where a person stands in relation to God. Our reaction to Christ now reveals his reaction to us on that day. Our response to Jesus determines everything. Two people can hear the same gospel. One can be saved and the other lost.

It's not for us to judge where a person may be. We only know that our destiny depends on Christ, on our response to him. And so maybe there is somebody here this morning who has never quite made that response to Jesus. And you've come to many Christmas services and you've been on the fringe of church for many many years, but you've never quite taken that step forward. Well, maybe allow this advent, this Christmas season, to bring you into Christ's kingdom firmly and securely, without any doubt.

This year, maybe even today, so that he's no longer our judge, but he's our friend and our master and our guide into the year ahead. It all hinges on what we do with him. With Jesus. He came to his own people, writes John in his gospel, but his own would not receive him. But to all who did receive him, he gave the right to become children of God.

So this little baby in Simeon's arms, he governs history, he saves humanity, he determines destinies. Everything changes with this baby. We ought to be glad that this little one in Simeon's arms can reach down into the depths of our hearts and reveal them. Because we know that if he can reach down into our hearts and expose our hearts, he alone can also reach down into our hearts and change our hearts and bring us from a state of falling into a state of rising. We can respond to him with gratitude and trust and joy, just as Simeon did, and in responding, know how and where we will spend eternity too.

This little baby changes everything. Shall we pray before we sing our final carol?

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, we thank you for these words of Simeon, for his faith, for his waiting, for Jesus, his saviour. And when he had seen Jesus, Lord, he could die happy. Life was complete. It would never get any better. Lord, many of us here this morning, we say the same.

Lord, nothing can ever compare with Jesus. To know him is to have everything. May he fill our hearts more and more, all this Christmas and in the year ahead. And, Lord, if we are on our way towards him, perhaps for the first time, Lord, draw us in by your spirit into your kingdom, into your life, into your family. This year we ask this in Jesus mighty name.

Amen.